TARF press release

Announcing an Exciting
New Partnership: Organizations Team Up For a Good Cause!

Boston, MA – January
23, 2013 – The Autism Research Foundation (TARF), the first medically
accredited autism research charity, is excited to announce a new partnership
with Beads for a Cause™, a new division of Confidence Beads™.

TARF has reached out to Linda
Waters, the founder of Beads for a Cause™ to create a bead for autism awareness
and fundraising. Beads for a Cause is based on the idea that we all should be lifting each other
up and acknowledging the contributions that everyone can make to the greater
community, a much-needed sentiment in the autism community.

The collection is called "I See
You," acknowledging that even though individuals with autism may not be
able to communicate as fully as neurotypical people, they will not go
unnoticed. The sparkly blue and white autism bead is engraved with the words “I
See You” on the side.

“TARF is proud to partner with Beads
for a Cause, as we work to
make every person with autism spectrum disorders beseen, heard,
and appreciated,” said Courtney LaPorte, the Executive Director of TARF. “We
will not let them become invisible; rather, we will bring visibility to their
needs and gifts.”

For every autism bead purchased from the “I See You”
collection, 20% of the proceeds will be donated to TARF to directly fund its
continuing brain-based research and inclusion programs, including Athletes 4
Autism, Michael’s Place, and Artists for Autism.

The best part about purchasing an “I See You” bead: other autism
organizations can sell the beads to fundraise for their own charity, and Waters
will still give a percentage back to TARF. It's truly the gift that keeps on
giving!

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The
Autism Research Foundation (TARF), founded by pioneering autism researcher Dr.
Margaret Bauman in 1990, is the first medically accredited autism research
nonprofit organization. Dr. Bauman was the first researcher to discover the
anatomical differences between a typical brain and a brain with autism,
demonstrating for the first time that autism was related to abnormalities of
brain development and not to poor parenting. Over the past 22 years, TARF has grown as an information authority in
the autism community, achieving community consciousness and autism
appreciation through its research, awareness, inclusion, fundraising, family
support and conference programs across New England. TARF has expanded its
mission to include innovative inclusion programs likeAthletes 4 Autism, Michael’s Place,
and Artists for Autism. For more
information about TARF, visit www.theautismresearchfoundation.org.